Estonia - Over 500 VET students improved their command of Estonian

ReferNet Estonia

Over a two-year period, of the Foundation for Integration and Migration ‘Our People’ (MISA) gathered proposals from all VET colleges on how to improve the complementary Estonian language teaching for students whose mother tongue is not Estonian.

Thanks to the proposals implemented, 500 VET students from all over Estonia enhanced their command of Estonian.

VET colleges were asked to propose activities helping the students improve their command of Estonian necessary for studies and professional activities in addition to the studies carried out as part of state-commissioned and financed study places. That is why programmes integrating language and professional studies, including internships in Estonian language work environment were preferred. In total, 17 proposals out of 29 proposed by VET colleges were carried out. As a result, the following activities were put into practice: supplementary Estonian language classes, preparation classes, exchange and internship programmes. Also, complementary study materials were published. Within the project, a linguistic-cultural exchange programme model supporting language learning for VET students was designed, which the schools can later apply independently.

In addition to complementary language learning activities, MISA commissioned a study ‘Broadening the studies of the Estonian language in Russian language study groups in VET institution’, whose aim was to get an overview of the Estonian language teaching in Russian language study groups.

The activities were financed from the European Social Fund programme ‘Developing language studies in 2007-2010’.